20 years ago I went to the local garlic festival with my kids for fun, and a vendor struck up a conversation with us about garlic, and specifically garlic bulbils. He excitedly grabbed a handful of what looked like little baby garlic and talked about how if we planted these, and had patience over a few seasons, we would have big beautiful garlic in our garden. He then passed them to the kids and gave me a photocopied leaflet about how to grow garlic. That fall I planted garlic cloves that I had purchased at the festival, as well as the bulbils. And next summer had I big, beautiful garlic in my garden. I was ecstatic. When I grew onions, from seed or from sets, I never accomplished more then a few golf ball sized bulbs. But garlic, apparently garlic I could grow! I was hooked and started growing it every year.
And what are garlic bulbils you may ask? Garlic bulbils are teeny little clones of the parent plant. Due to generations of selective breeding, many garlic varieties (generally those labelled hardnecks) throw up a flower stem that opens to reveal flowers, and itty bitty garlics that range in size from a grain of rice to a marble depending on the variety. These contain all the genetic material of the parent, and with a little patience over a few growing seasons, will produce full sized garlic.
Garlic! Keep reading, and learn how you too can fall in love with garlic, and if you want, grow this delicious crop.